The Rolling Stones: Crossfire Hurricane

“Girls wet themselves when they get excited,” we're told as further explanation for a reference here to “the flood of urine pouring down” the aisles during a Rolling Stones concert. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is the Rolling Stones, a band that—as one unnamed TV announcer says—“don't exactly generate an aura of sweetness and light.” Filmmaker Brett Morgen's wonderfully entertaining paean to rock's original bad boys (“the Beatles got the white hat,” guitarist Keith Richards points out) is less a chronological history of the band (currently on a 50th anniversary tour) than an impressionistic immersion in the Stones' first decade, roughly 1963-1973 (guitarist Ron Wood doesn't arrive until the last 15 minutes). Combining voiceover 2012 interview sound bites from core Stones—Mick Jagger (vocals), Richards, Charlie Watts (drums), Bill Wyman (bass), Mick Taylor (guitar), and Wood—with a wealth of incredible archival footage (performance, backstage, home movies), Crossfire Hurricane is a thrilling ride. We follow the blues-rock band's heady early days when fans rushed the stage and virtually attacked band members (“you stayed as long as you could…and then you did a runner”) up through the horrible flipside of the infamous Altamont concert in 1969, where Hells Angels attacked the audience members (killing one man). The Stones evolve from wide-eyed kids catapulted to instant fame during a turbulent era, to coping with the death of original band member Brian Jones, to embarking on the hedonistic wastrel years (personal jet, naked groupies, snorting coke off a knife blade), to becoming semi-responsible musicians in the end. And throughout it all, we hear the legendary music: “Street Fighting Man,” “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction,” “Paint It Black,” “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Midnight Rambler,” “You Can't Always Get What You Want,” “Angie,” and more. As Lawrence Welk would say, this is simply “mahvelous”—a time capsule blast of rock's rude roots. Presented in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo on DVD, and DTS-HD 5.1 and LPCM stereo on Blu-ray, extras include archival performances of eight songs from concerts during 1964-65, and an interview with the director. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)